Azernews.Az

BAKU – A senior official of Azerbaijan’s ruling party has blamed US diplomats for deriving information from the country’s opposition media, amid the ongoing row worldwide over the recent release of US diplomatic cables by the WikiLeaks website.

"US embassy representatives sent the stories carried by opposition newspapers to their home countries as reports, thus driving their own countries into a predicament," deputy chairman of the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP), Ali Ahmadov, told reporters Tuesday.

Ahmadov said the content released by WikiLeaks contains "concoctions" published by Azerbaijani opposition newspapers in the past.

"The reality is that the reports carried by the opposition-controlled media in Azerbaijan are not true. I have to point out, unfortunately, that these [reports] have been sent by US embassy representatives to their countries as reports reflecting the situation in Azerbaijan."

Ahmadov believes that this development is likely to diminish confidence in US diplomats based in Azerbaijan but should not considerably affect bilateral relations.

The reports, released by WikiLeaks contain about 250,000 classified letters sent by US diplomats to the State Department. The cables release alleged details of the Obama administration’s correspondence, US diplomats’ terse remarks about world leaders, and personal conversations between numerous countries’ leaders and US officials. The cables include Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s controversial quotes allegedly made during a meeting with US Undersecretary of State William Burns.

The Azerbaijani president's press service has said the comments posted on the WikiLeaks website had no merit, labeling this content as "an outright provocation".